On paper this coming Saturday is one of the biggest days in boxing this year. There are numerous world level fighters in action and several fighters who attract a lot of attention. In all honesty however we feel that the weekend is one full of style over substance and, as a result, we feel we've a point to make at a weekend where the action really could be lacking despite a host of big name fighters. The most notable action of the night comes from Las Vegas and whilst it is notable it is also, on the whole, rather disappointing and doesn't have a “big fight feel”. The main event will see the self-proclaimed “The Best Ever” Floyd Mayweather Jr (48-0, 26) put his unbeaten record on the line against Andre Berto (30-3, 23). The bout, for the WBC and WBA “super” titles at Welterweight is a bout that failed to get fan support, is expected to be a commercial flop and is shrouded in controversy with Mayweather having recently come under-fire for the use of an IV prior to his fight with Manny Pacquiao. Whilst we have often been in awe of Mayweather's in ring ability we must confess the act has gone stale and we're looking forward to his retirement which he has promise will come after this bout. Given that he's lied regularly in the past however we're expect he'll return in 2016, if he wins as expected here, to go to 50-0. In one of the chief support bouts Englishman George Groves (21-2, 16) will face WBC Super Middleweight champion Badou Jack (19-1-1, 12). Without trying to sound harsh Jack may well be the worst world champion in the sport and the way he won the title said more about Anthony Dirrell than it did about Jack. Groves, who has lost 2 of his last 4 to Carl Froch, once looked like the heir to the Super Middleweight throne but recent performances have been less than inspiring. Although they should match up well it's certainly not a top quality bout as some are trying to paint it. A third world title bout on this card, and probably the bout that will excite fans, is at Super Featherweight where Puerto Rican Roman Martinez (29-2-2, 17), a 3-time world champion, battles Mexican tough guy Orlando Salido (42-13-2-1, 29), himself a 4-time champion. These two met in a barn burner back in April, in Martinez's homeland, and although Salido was beaten he gave one of the year's most stirring efforts, getting up from several knockdowns to run Martinez close down the stretch. This bout has been widely over-looked though is probably going to have more action than the other 4 major bouts on the show, combined. In a non-title bout former world champion Ishe Smith (27-7, 12) battles against Vanes Martirosyan (35-2-1, 21). Both guys have got solid “name” value but it's hard to see this being anything but a dull contest as the talented, but tedious, Smith makes life difficult for the equally frustrating Martirosyan. Although both are skilled both have struggled to even be involved in “exciting” bouts and it's hard to see either changing that here. Yet another former champion is on this card, which has been stacked in terms of names even if the match ups have seriously lacked competitiveness, is Jhonny Gonzalez (58-9, 49) who will be facing Jonathan Oquendo (25-4, 16). For Gonzalez this is the next step towards a potential show down with a Super Featherweight champion, likely to be the winner of the recently announced bout between Takashi Miura and Francisco Vargas, but it's hard to see what Oquendo brings to the table, especially at 130lbs. Given the PPV price tag of the show it does seem like the card has been a case of “names above match ups” and we'll rarely support that, especially on PPV. There is another card in the US, which is scheduled to take place before the Mayweather show. Unfortunately this is just as uninspiring as the other show. In the most meaningful bout of the card fans will see veteran Cornelius Bundrage (34-5, 19) defending his IBF Light Middleweight title against Jermall Charlo (21-0, 16). The 42 year old Bundrage has had a fairytale career to become a 2-time world champion, claiming the first of those titles aged 37, but is a clear under-dog against the much touted, and much younger, Charlo who should claim his first world title fight. An intriguing 10 round bout will see former world champion Gabriel Campillo (25-7-1, 12) take on Marcus Browne (15-0, 11). For Campillo a loss here would likely spell the end of his career, which saw him holding the WBA title and earn a number of solid paydays, however Browne has failed to convince fans, despite having an Olympic pedigree and an unbeaten record. This could be one of the nights many possible gems, despite a lack of major build up. Another former champion on action here is former WBO Middleweight champion Peter Quillin (31-0-1, 22), who continues to destroy what good standing his career once had. The former champion will be facing little known Australian Michael Zerafa (17-1, 9) as he continues to tease a potential showdown with Daniel Jacobs. Quillin once looked like the man who could have given Gennady Golovkin problems but has since become boxing's version of a joke fighting Light Middleweights in title defenses, turning down a career payday and vacating the title then failing to make weight. This bout, win or lose, will do his reputation no good at all. Before the action Stateside British fans will get the chance to watch two of their Heavyweight hopefuls in action as well as a third meeting between two men who have given local fans two incredible wars already. The most notable of the men in action is 2012 Olympic champion Anthony Joshua (13-0, 13) who faces Scottish giant Gary Cornish (21-0, 12). On paper this looks a great bout but footage of Cornish has shown him to be rather uncoordinated and it's hard to see him providing any sort of a test to Joshua. This bout will be for the WBC International and Commonwealth Heavyweight titles and if Joshua he will likely face amateur nemesis Dillian Whyte in December. The aforementioned Dillian Whyte (15-0, 12) is also in action here as he takes on veteran Brian Minto (41-9, 26) in a bout for the WBC International Silver Heavyweight title. In the amateurs Whyte scored a win over Joshua and will be hoping to do the same when the two men meet. This is a tougher assignment than Joshua's but should still be a simple win for the Englishman. Arguably the highlight of the show however will be the third meeting between Dave Ryan (17-8, 4) and John Wayne Hibbert (15-3, 9). The two men are fighting for the unified WBC International and Commonwealth titles, just as they did back in May, and will be hoping to put on another thriller. The two men first met back in 2013 in a thrilling back-and-forth war but it was their bout this year that really captured the attention of fans and stole the day with 4 knockdowns and gritty come from behind win for Ryan. This really has the potential to be the sleeper fight of the weekend.
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This past Saturday may not have has a big bout anywhere on the planet but it did still have plenty of entertaining contests around the scene on the fringes of world class, and we did also have a very forgettable world title bout.
We'll start with that world title bout which, on paper, was the most significant bout of the night but also one of the most disappointing bouts we've seen all year. The bout, an IBF Light Middleweight title bout, saw defending champion Carlos Molina (22-6-2, 6) look like a lost, unmotivated and confused man as he was widely out pointed by 41 year old American Cornelius Bundrage (34-5-0-1, 19). Molina, usually a nightmare opponent fighters such as Erislandy Lara, James Kirkland and Julio Cesar Chavez Jr, looked very much like a man with other things on his mind and was dropped twice by Bundrage, who himself didn't look like a world class fighter. This bout has suggested that anyone at 154lbs could win a world title bout next year, it's just a case of who will make the best offer to Bundrage who is now a 2-time world champion. Whilst the world title bout was a stinker the card it's interesting for 2 other bouts. One of them saw Nicaragua's Rene Alvarado (21-3, 14) make a successful move to Super Featherweight as he over-came the gallant but out classed and out worked Juan Pablo Sanchez (29-12, 13). Alvarado, the brother of former Kazuto Ioka opponent Felix Alvarado, really appears like he could be a decent contender at 130lbs and whilst he does lack power at the weight he could still be a threat based on his work rate and heart. Our only complain about this was the judging which was truly awful and the judges weren't even ashamed by the opening scoring which appeared to force Alvarado into being ultra-aggressive in the later rounds. Thankfully opening scoring likely allowed Alvarado to be aware that he needed to win the last 4 rounds to win and he made sure he did just that. Talking about ultra-aggressive we became instant fans of Jorge Lara (26-0-1, 18) who took ultra-aggressive and turned the volume up to 11 as he battered the more experienced Jovanny Soto (38-17-1, 33) from the the opening round to the 4th round. Soto effectively became a human yo-yo and was done numerous times in the first 2 rounds before finally being seen off in round 4. Soto's heart is second to none but it was Lara who really impressed with his very fan-friendly style. He might not reach the top of the Super Bantamweight division but he's certainly going to add a lot of excitement to the division. In the UK we saw another notable bout as Lee Selby (20-1, 8) secured himself an IBF Featherweight world title bout with a 9th round stoppage of the previously undefeated Joel Brunker (27-1, 15). Selby started well with his boxing and moving though in all honesty Brunker looked poor, slow, one-dimensional and like a man who had been thrown into an eliminator that he was never going to be ready for. Selby pinged clean shots off the Australian's head as and when he wanted though it wasn't until round 9 that the British fighter put his foot on the gas and after hurting Brunker he closed the show in style. Although the win was a good one for the British fighter we do wonder whether he will be able to really put a dent on Evgeny Gradovich, the current IBF Featherweight champion. A busy Friday night saw a lot of action through out the US with a number of those bouts having a relevancy to us Asian fans. Firstly there was a number of former foes of our fighters. These included Light Heavyweight Cornelius White (21-3, 16) who was dispatched inside a round by the unbeaten Thomas Williams (16-0, 11). The bout between White and Williams saw 3 knockdowns with White being stopped in one of the most dramatic rounds of the year. Unfortunately this bout does make Sergey Kovalev's victory over White look less impressive though we'd argue that really Kovalev did the long last damage to White. Things were much better for former Gennady Golovkin foe Curtis Stevens (26-4, 19) who scored an opening round victory himself. Stevens needed just 46 seconds to see off Poland's Patrick Majewski (21-3, 13), who was down 3 times and seemed to look more like a yo-yo than a boxer. Things were also good, at least in terms of the result, for Rico Ramos (23-3, 12). Ramos, who is best known for knocking out Akifumi Shimoda, dropped Jonathan Arrellano (14-3-2, 3) 3-times though failed to do much to make fans want to see him. Although talented and powerful with his left hook Ramos did too much of nothing and once again left fans wondering what is mentally wrong with him. In bouts less directly relevant to our fighters we saw a few interesting results. In the Light Middleweight division Cornelius "K9" Bundrage (33-5-0-1, 19) managed to secure himself the #1 slot with the IBF courtesy of a victory over Joey Hernandez (23-2-1, 13) who showed up his clear limitations. Light Welterweight sensation Antonio Orozco (19-0, 15) managed to quickly see off the horribly over-matched Miguel Angel Huerta (27-12-1, 18) and Cruiserweight hopeful Thabiso Mchunu (15-1, 10) managed to over-come Nigerian puncher Olanrewaju Durodola (17-2, 16) Although the Asian action this weekend is scarce, to say the least, the international action does have some very interesting match ups, especially in the US where the bouts seem to be "interesting" as opposed to genuinely "notable". On Friday the interesting match ups in the US take place across a number of divisions. For us the most notable is the return to action of American Middleweight Curtis Stevens (25-4, 18) who fights for the first time since he was stopped by Gennady Golovkin last year. Stevens will be looking to get back to winning ways as he takes on Patrick Majewski (21-2, 13) in what looks, on the face of it, like a great match up. Stevens is the clear favourite (priced around 1/4) though depending on the damage Golovkin to him he may not be the same fighter and Majewski (7/2), fighting in his adopted New Jersey, will be very well supported. On the same card there is also action in the Cruiserweight division with the very highly regarded Thabiso Mchunu (14-1, 10) battling against the big punching Olanrewaju Durodola (17-1, 16). Mchunu, who impressed against Eddie Chambers last time out, is world ranked by all 4 bodies and will know he's closing in on a world title fight. Saying that though Durodola is a big puncher with a lot of stoppages inside 4 rounds and we'd not be shocked to see Mchunu given a chin test of some variety. As with the Stevens/Majewski fight one man, Mchunu is the clear favourite (1/4) though it's Nigerian born Durodola (4/1) has got Olympic experience and great power. Staying in the US, though going to Indio, California we get a Light Middleweight double header. The main event sees former IBF champion Cornelius Bundrage (32-5-0-1, 19) take on Joey Hernandez (23-1-1, 13) in an IBF eliminator for the #1 spot. The bout, not one that we're really excited about, should set up the next challenger for the winner of the upcoming Carlos Molina/Jermall Charlo bout. The second Light Middleweight bout on the show sees the always exciting to watch Antonio Orozco (18-0, 14) take on the over-matched Miguel Angel Huerta (17-11-1, 18). Although this is a mismatch we love watching Orozco who is all action with a must watch style and real power. Whilst this bout is an easy one for the unbeaten man we wouldn't be shocked to see 2014 become his break out year. One more show in the US is in Washington and will be televised on ESPN. The main event here sees former Sergey Kovalev foe Cornelius White (21-2, 16) attempt to resurrect his career as he takes on the unbeaten Thomas Williams Jr (15-0, 10) in what is a really important bout in the Light Heavyweight division between two IBF ranked fighters. A second bout on this card that has an interest to us is a Featherweight one between Rico Ramos (22-3, 12) and Jonathan Arrellano (14-2-2, 3). Ramos, best known for stopping Akifumi Shimoda back in 2011, has won just 2 of his last 5 fights whilst regularly stinking out the joint. Anything but a good win over Arrellano would likely be the end of Ramos's days on TV. Interestingly Arrellano (priced at 5/2) is given a decent underdog price from the bookies who have Ramos (1/3) as a favourite but not a certainty. The only other bouts of note take place in Spain where European Union Light Welterweight champion Ruben Nieto (13-0, 6) defends his belt against Samuele Esposito (17-1, 10). The winner of this bout is likely to be moved towards a notable fight by the end of the year. |
InternationalWe know that not every fight involves an Asian fighter but a lot of fights do affect Asian fighter. As a result we've decided to add this new section to Asian boxing where we look at selected International bouts. Archives
December 2015
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